December 28, 2006

Hoping to lose weight in the new year? This discovery won’t help in 2007 but maybe some year . . .

Last week the journal Nature published two related papers showing that bacteria in the gut may contribute to obesity. Of the two main groups of intestinal bacteria that help humans digest food, increased numbers of Firmicutes are associated with obesity, and increased numbers of Bacteroidetes are associated with weight loss, in both humans and laboratory mice.

Works on bacteria in relation to obesity are classed in 616.398014 Medical bacteriology of obesity (built with 616.398 Obesity plus 014 Medical bacteriology from the add table under 616.1-616.9 Specific diseases).

December 27, 2006

The Rockefeller Center ice-skating rink turned 70 on Monday. This
artificial outdoor rink opened in Dec. 25, 1936. The rink and the large Christmas tree above
it are two of the famous winter scenes in Midtown Manhattan. Ice-skating rinks, whether outdoor or indoor, natural or artificial, are classed at 796.91 Ice skating. Table 1 notation --09 Historical, geographic,
persons treatment plus Table 2 notation --7471 New York Borough of Manhattan (Manhattan Island, New York
County) cannot be added, because, unlike several other sports in 796 Athletic
and outdoor sports and games, there is no separate provision for ice-skating
facilities at 796.91.

December 26, 2006

Well, I'm home in Australia
for three weeks (though my luggage is temporarily in San Francisco, due to snow in Colorado). And just so you in the northern winter can feel
jealous, here are a couple of pictures that I took of the beach down
the road last time I was here.

And today is called "Boxing Day" here, and people get a holiday today as well as for Christmas Day.

But the real significance of today is that it is the 100th anniversary of the release of The Story of the Kelly Gang which is generally accepted as being the first feature film. It was first released in Australia on December 26th, 1906.

Ned Kelly -- the bushranger
on whose story the film was based -- is an icon in Australian culture,
and works on him include a series of paintings by Sidney Nolan (which Dewey would class at 759.994 Painting and paintings of Australia, built by adding to 759.9 Painting and paintings of other geographic areas the notation 94 Australia from Table 2), and the fictional True history of the Kelly gang by Peter Carey (which Dewey would class at 823.914 English fiction 1945-1999 -- for a discussion on that number, see the blog on Patrick White). If a full copy of The Story of the Kelly Gang still existed, Dewey would put it at 791.4372 Single films.

For a non-fiction work on Ned Kelly, Dewey Manor would assign 364.1552092 Robbers. While he was tried, convicted and hanged as a murderer, he is better known as a bushranger, i.e., a robber. See the note at 364.1092: "Criminals are classed with the crime for which they are most noted unless they are discussed with relationship to a specific crime, e.g., a general biography of Jesse James, a bank robber, is classed in 364.1552092 , but a study of Jesse James' killings is classed in 364.1523092."

December 22, 2006

Flora, a Komodo dragon at Chester Zoo in England, is expecting. She has laid fertile eggs despite never having had a mate. Another Komodo dragon, Sungai, at the London Zoo, has produced dragon hatchlings both by self-fertilization and by mating with a male dragon. Genetic tests have confirmed the self-fertilization in both cases. The process of eggs becoming embryos without male fertilization is called parthenogenesis. Smaller lizards have long been known to reproduce in this fashion, but this is the first time that parthenogenesis has been documented in the Komodo dragon, the largest extant lizard species. Scientists are eager to learn how common parthenogenesis is in Komodo dragons in the wild.

Comprehensive works about parthenogenesis in Komodo dragons are classed in 571.8871795968 Parthenogenesis in Komodo dragons (built with 571.887 Parthenogenesis plus 1 from 571.1 Animals as instructed in the add table under 571.5-571.9 Tissue biology, regional physiology, cell biology, biological control and secretions, reproduction, development, growth, diseases plus 795968 from 597.95968 Varanus komodoensis [Komodo dragon]). Works about reproduction of Komodo dragons in captivity, by whatever method, are in standing room in the number for raising Komodo dragons in captivity.

December 21, 2006

Last week National Public Radio’s Morning Edition broadcast
a 5-part series by Louisa Lim about the rapid urbanization of Shanghai. The series covers architecture, including the
many new skyscrapers, urban planning, and urban renewal. The series ends with three authors of fiction
set in Shanghai.

General works on architecture of Shanghai are classed in
720.951132 Architecture of Shanghai (built with 720 Architecture plus 9 from
T1—09 Geographic treatment plus T2—51132 Shanghai Municipality). Works on skyscrapers in
Shanghai are classed in 720.4830951132 Tall buildings of Shanghai.

Comprehensive works on urban sociology of Shanghai are
classed in 307.760951132 Shanghai as an urban community. Works with a narrower focus on planning and
development are classed in 307.1160951132 Urban planning and development of
Shanghai (built with 307.1 Planning and development plus 1 from the add table
under 307.1-307.3 Specific aspects of communities plus 6 from 307.76 Urban
communities plus T1—09 Geographic treatment plus T2—51132 Shanghai
Municipality). Works that focus on
urban renewal are classed in 307.34160951132 Urban renewal in Shanghai (built
with 307.34 Redevelopment plus 1 from the add table under 307.1-307.3 plus 6
from 307.76 plus T1—09 plus T2—51132).

Shanghai Dancing, the fictional autobiography of Australian
writer Brian Castro, who grew up in Shanghai, is classed in 823.914 English
fiction, 1945-1999.

A Loyal Character Dancer, a detective novel by Qiu Xiaolong,
an American writer who was born in Shanghai and visits there often, is classed
in 813.6 American fiction, 2000 to present.

How Sensitive We Are, by Mian Mian, a Shanghai native and
reformed heroin addict who describes the seamier sides of the city, is classed
in 895.1352 Chinese fiction, 1949 to present.

December 14, 2006

A team of scientists has recently identified genetic mutations that allow East African cattle-raising peoples to digest milk in adulthood. Here are excerpts from an International Herald Tribune article about the report published in the journal Nature Genetics:

Throughout most of human history, the ability to digest lactose, the principal sugar of milk, has been switched off after weaning because the lactase enzyme that breaks apart the sugar is no longer needed. But when cattle were first domesticated 9,000 years ago and people later started to consume their milk as well as their meat, natural selection would have favored anyone with a mutation that kept the lactase gene switched on.

Such a mutation is known to have arisen among an early cattle-raising people, the Funnel Beaker culture, which flourished 5,000 to 6,000 years ago in north-central Europe. People with a persistently active lactase gene have no problem digesting milk and are said to be lactose tolerant.

Geneticists wondered if the lactose tolerance mutation in Europeans, identified in 2002, had arisen among pastoral peoples elsewhere. But it seemed to be largely absent from Africa, even though pastoral peoples there generally have some degree of tolerance.

A research team led by Sarah Tishkoff of the University of Maryland has now solved much of the puzzle. After testing for lactose tolerance and genetic makeup among 43 ethnic groups in East Africa, she and her colleagues have found three new mutations, all independent of one another and of the European mutation, that keep the lactase gene permanently switched on.

Lactose tolerance is classed in 612.396 Carbohydrate metabolism. The opposite, lactose intolerance, is classed in 616.3998 Diseases of carbohydrate metabolism.

December 11, 2006

The amount of phytoplankton in the ocean drops when ocean temperatures rise, according to a study based on data from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and published last week in the journal Nature. Here are excerpts from the NASA press release:

By comparing nearly a decade of global ocean satellite data with several records of Earth's changing climate, scientists found that whenever climate temperatures warmed, marine plant life in the form of microscopic phytoplankton declined. Whenever climate temperatures cooled, marine plant life became more vigorous or productive. . . . . . . .Phytoplankton are microscopic plants living in the upper sunlit layer of the ocean. They are responsible for approximately the same amount of photosynthesis each year as all land plants combined. Changes in phytoplankton growth and photosynthesis influence fishery yields, marine bird populations and the amount of carbon dioxide the oceans remove from the atmosphere.. . . . . . .The new study also explains why a change in climate produces this effect on ocean plant life. When the climate warms, the temperature of the upper ocean also increases, making it "lighter" than the denser cold water beneath it. This results in a layering or "stratification" of ocean waters that creates an effective barrier between the surface layer and the nutrients below, cutting off phytoplankton's food supply.

Works about oceanic phytoplankton are classed in 579.81776 Marine phytoplankton (built with 579.8 Algae plus 17 from 579.17 Ecology, organisms characteristic of specific environments plus 76 from 577.76 Surface regions of the ocean). Works about the ocean's temperature are classed in 551.4653 Seawater temperature.

December 07, 2006

Recently American Public Media’s Marketplace® carried a story about two organic farmers, Rick and Lora Lea Misterly of Quillisascut Farm in northeastern Washington state, who invite chefs and culinary students to spend a week living what they call “farm to table,” working as both cooks and farmhands. The farm serves as a “hands-on laboratory for teaching food professionals how to work organic options into their menus.”

General works on organic farming are classed in 631.584 Organic farming. General works on organically grown foods are classed in 641.302 Health foods. General works on cooking organically grown foods are classed in 641.5637 Health-food cooking.

When the Misterlys are not giving general instruction in organic farming, they specialize in raising goats for milk and in making goat cheese. Raising goats for milk is classed in 636.39142 Goats for milk (built with 636.391 Goats for specific purposes plus 42 from 636.08842 Animals raised for eggs and milk). Raising goats of a specific breed for a specific purpose, however, is classed with the breed. Since the goats of Quillisascut Farm belong to a breed originally from France, Alpine Cross, they are classed in 636.394 French and Belgian breeds of goats (built with 636.39 Goats plus 4 from 636.34 French and Belgian breeds of sheep, following the instructions under 636.392-636.398 Specific breeds of goats).

Making cheese is classed in 637.3 Cheese processing. Many varieties of cheese can be made from goat’s milk, e.g., 637.353 Ripened soft cheeses and 637.356 Fresh cheeses. Works on cheese as a food are classed in 641.373 Cheese (built with 641.37 Dairy and related products plus 3 from 637.3 Cheese processing). Works on cooking cheese and cooking with cheese are classed in 641.673 Cooking with cheese (built with 641.6 Cooking specific materials plus 73 from 637.3 Cheese processing, following instructions under 641.63-641.67 Cooking food derived from plant crops and domesticated animals).

Fortunately there are other library cats still living, and the Internet would not be the Internet without an interactive map to locate the nearest library cat. (And why isn't this valuable service integrated into WorldCat? Why aren't cats in WorldCat?)

Works on cats are, of course, in WorldCat. A good place to start is the Dewey number 636.8 Cats (as last year's blog hinted). And libraries are at 027 General libraries, archives, information centers. The Spencer Public
Library is classed at 027.4777153, which is built by following the instructions under 027.43-.49, and adding to the base number 027.4 Public libraries the
notation for the geographic area in which the Spencer Public Library located,T2--777153 Clay County (Spencer is in Clay County, Iowa).

March 2015

OCLC

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